Transcripts For CSPAN Campaign 2022 Alaska U.S. Senate Debate 20221029

Murkowski debated her to challengers in alaskas 2022 senate race. They discuss vious issues, including abortion and election integrity. This is alaskas first time using a ranked Choice Voting system, which was approved by voters in 20 the nonpartisan cook report rates the race solid republican. Alaska public media, alaskas news source, and ktoo present debate for the state. The u. S. Senate race, moderated by Lori Townsend and mike ross. Good evening. Thank you for joining us for our final debate for the state event. Were coming to you live from alaska public media. Im Lori Townsend. And good evening, everyone. Im mike ross. Tonight, were going to pose a series of questions to the candidates on this years ballot for one of the alaska seats in the u. S. Senate. Now, because of the states new voting system, alaskans will rank up to four candidates at the polls this year. Republicans Lisa Murkowski and kelly tshibaka, and democrat pat chesbro. The fourth candidate on the ballot, buzz kelly, has suspended his campaign and will not be taking part in tonights debate. Weve also gathered questions from alaskans around the state and from the anchorage youth vote. Well also be monitoring social media tonight for other questions to pose to the candidates. The candidates will have the opportunity to ask questions of each other during the debate tonight. All the questions and answers will be timed. Lets begin. President biden said, if democrats keep control of congress, the first bill he will send would enshrine abortion rights nationwide. Would you support or oppose a measure like that . Each candidate will have 1 minute to respond. And well start with you, senator murkowski. I do support codification of roe v. Wade. I recognize that we cannot go backwards in time 50 years, when it comes to a womans right to determine her own Reproductive Health and health care. I also recognize that abortion should not be without limitation. And so, the bipartisan effort that i have introduced in the United States senate is one that, again, codifies roe, but does so in ensuring that there are limitations. There is a conscience provision for providers who are not willing to perform abortions. Its also important to recognize that hide protection still remain in place. Still remains in place. So there has been, before the Senate Previously this year, an effort to codify roe that was so expensive, that was so overthetop, it was rejected on a Straight Party line basis. 1 minute, please. Im prolife, and the Supreme Court was dobbs has returned the choice about abortion back to the states. Im not sure that any effort in congress would actually be upheld by the Supreme Court. However, theres a bill that has been introduced that would set a nationwide cap somewhere in the second trimester, when a fetus could feel pain. I would support a bill like that. I think that brings us in line with many of the European Countries limits. The incumbent has voted in 2018 and 2020 to allow abortions to continue all the way up to when a baby is being born. I think thats too extreme. I also think that we need to make Birth Control more accessible. We should allow there to be release of prescriptions so that women could get it without a prescription, over the counter and through the mail. In a postop environment, i think that this would be wonderful, especially in many of our alaska native Rural Communities where they dont have the post office open all the time. But again, i think that most of these decisions are going to be left to the state at this point. Thank you. Ms. Chesbro, you have 1 minute. After the roe v. Wade decision came down, i spoke to several people who had either decided to have or to not have abortions. Every reason was different. Every reason was their own. One that stuck with me was a situation where a person had chosen to not have an abortion, despite the fact that her doctor said she should because she had cancer. This person, whose mother died after she gave birth to him, said, how do you think i would feel if it was the government who told me that my mother had to die in order for me to live . I think thats part of the issue here. I really am prochoice. I think it needs to be up to the discretion of the individual, not anyone else. I think it has to be a very difficult decision, and i think we need to let people make those decisions on their own. Thank you. Our next question. Faith in our election system is essential for the future of our democracy. What needs to happen to ensure that voters trust our electoral system . Candidates, youll have 1 minute for your answers. Ms. Tshibaka, youre first. I had the honor of being able to audit our division of elections in 2019 before the nation saw what we saw in 2020. Its clear that we can identify best practices and vulnerable abilities in election systems. And i truly support state based systems based on rooted based in rooted transparency and accountability where we know that we have one alaskan that can vote and that that vote is counted. I dont support federalization of our election systems where we let washington, d. C. Tell us in alaska what to do and how to do it. However, there are some things that we could get support from from the federal government, like funding for signature verification authority, where we can get machines that tell us that the signatures match, rather than having people at the division of elections carry that burden. That would give us more confidence that the Election Results are coming out the way that the voters intended, instead of resulting in discrepancies in the system. Thank you. Ms. Chesbro, you have 1 minute. I voted yesterday, and i continue to be impressed with the people who are at the voting polls, and their efficiency and their willingness to help anyone who is trying to vote. I am wary of the things we hear around the country, of people that are intimidating people. The system cannot be safe, if everyone does not have access to it. And we all are responsible for making sure that people are not intimidated, when they go to vote, that the voting systems are correct. I live in matsu, and now theyve just decided its going to be safer to hand count things than to use machines. I think that is kind of going off the rails here. We really need to have our elected officials have confidence in the election and we need to check. We have ways to check, but i have faith, and i think we need to make sure that people have faith in the system. Senator murkowski, 1 minute. Elections must be really a cornerstone of what we believe in. We cannot govern without the consent of the governed. Correct . So everything that we can do to make sure that our Electoral Systems are fair, transparent, free, and accessible, anything that would work to prohibit that, i think causes into question the fairness of your elections. I have been the only republican that has, over the years, came forward and said the Voting Rights act, the john lewis Voting Rights act has been that template that has urged us in the right direction to make sure that our election laws are fair to all, that we do not discriminate against our native people through literacy exams. Ive also been engaged with a rework of the electoral count act, a bipartisan effort to ensure that not only are elections free and fair, but that when we count senator, your time. When we count, it is fair. Thank you. Former President Donald Trump has been subpoenaed to appear before the House Committee investigating the january 6 attack at the u. S. Capitol. Do you think he should testify, and do you think he may have committed crimes related to the attempt at halting the certification of the election . Youll have 45 seconds to answer this question. And, ms. Chesbro, youll go first. I think he should testify. I think the way to establish your innocence or answer questions is to testify in front of the group. I have no idea whether he broke the law, because im not the person that decides those kinds of things. But i think the human the american citizens need to hear what he has to say about that day that was so scary for so many people, including me, because i was watching it, and i could not believe that it was happening. So, yes, he should testify. And whether hes guilty of a crime, thats up to someone else to decide. Senator murkowski, 45 seconds. When a subpoena issues to a former president , it is not done lightly. I think this needs to be taken seriously. I think that he should accept and testify under subpoena. I doubt that he will. As to whether or not he was engaged in crimes that were committed, i think this is what the process will determine, as it moves forward. I do think, however, that this is something that is left unfinished in the minds of so many in this country, in terms of the former president s role. Thank you, ms. Tshibaka. The legality of the subpoena is being adjudicated in the court system now, and thats the proper place for it to be determined. The people who engaged in illegal activity that day were the ones who entered the capital the capitol and broke the laws, and they should be held accountable. Ive knocked on thousands of doors across alaska. So with all that being said, this question hasnt come up once, when i talk to alaskans. Alaskans are focused on the issues affecting them right now in their homes and in their wallets, and the issues affecting them in the future. And those are things like inflation, public safety, the erosion of our Constitutional Rights, education. Those are the issues i think we need to start focusing on, as United States senate, so that we can help the people of alaska. All right. Our next question, the remnants of typhoon murbach devastated coastal communities in western alaska several weeks ago. What can congress do to help the state prepare for the impacts of the changing climate . Youll have 45 seconds to respond. Senator murkowski. First, i wish that there was one quick, easy answer. I was out there less than a week after typhoon murbach devastated that coastline. And the devastation in terms of damage to the land, the erosion, but also to personal property, it breaks your heart. The question is, is what can we do . There are efforts that are underway not only through the infrastructure bill that we have advanced, but the energy act of 2020 that i had put into law. We do focus on what we call climate resilience. It is really hard to protect a coastline like we have in alaska, but i can tell you that the people want that barrier protection. Thank you. Ms. Tshibaka, you have 45 seconds. Typhoon mirabak is obviously devastating and we are at risk for having more of this kind of damage. I dont think we take an either or approach, though, to those of us who want clean air, clean water, and clean land. And we also understand that we need traditional resources in order to develop renewable resources. Unfortunately, this is the approach of the Biden Administration. There are radical environmental nominees that have been confirmed by our incumbent that have shut down our industries here in alaska. And its not a healthy approach for us. We can take an all of the above solution so that we can invest in Renewable Energy, Energy Innovation for cleaner and more efficient, traditional, reasonable, and responsible uses of our development, of energy up here in alaska, so that we can take an all of the above approach as we move forward in Renewable Energy and Clean Energy Development in alaska. Innovation is important. Ms. Chesbro. 45 seconds. Obviously, we need to look at the housing of the people that have been affected by this, and not just their housing, im sure other places along the coast. I think we have the capacity to develop ways of building housing in rural alaska that are more resilient, warmer, Better Energy efficient. I think the other thing we have to remember is the first thing is we have to help people when theyre destroyed like this. We have to get to them fast. We have to make sure they have enough food, because food stores were destroyed. We have to help people, and we have to move fast to do that. Thank you. As sea ice retreats, more vessels are transiting the arctic. What should the federal government do now to prevent an ecological or security disaster in the region, if one of these ships runs aground . You have 45 seconds for this answer. And ms. Tshibaka, youll start us off. We know that there are changing conditions in the arctic. The arctic is opening up. We also have increasing tensions in the arctic, and the arctic also will be a place for increased commerce. So this is something that we need to get on top of. As congress, i think that were a couple of decades behind in building out our infrastructure up here, our ports, our roads, and our railroads, also developing out National Security infrastructure to protect us for readiness and defense. Ive spent over a decade in the National Security community, i have the relationships and the knowledge and the experience to be able to advance us in this area, and very quickly, because we can see that russia and china have objectives counter to our own here in the arctic. Being the only arctic state, this is imperative for us, as is the health and viability of our arctic coastline communities out in rural alaska. We really need to prioritize their health, their housing, and their jobs, as well. Ms. Chesbro, 45 seconds for this question. The coast guard in 2015 developed a plan for their arctic strategy. At this point in time, they are the first line of defense for us to help with all of those things. And we need to make sure that they are funded, that they continue to work with others to make this work, that they are that they have not only the operational staff, but the support staff and the support areas in the state that will help them to thrive and make sure that we can depend on them as we have for 100 years. The coast guard. Thank you. Senator murkowski. You have 45 seconds. We need the assets. We dont need just to talk about them. We need the assets. And thats exactly what i have been driving towards, known as the arctic senator. Well, i dont want to just have that title. I want to demonstrate what weve done. So its everything from getting funding for the first deepwater port north of alaska, which is known, what we have done to plus up the resources for the u. S. Coast guard. Three icebreakers coming online, with more to come, other ice hardened vessels to help out with search and rescue. What we need to be doing to ensure that our National Guard here is at the ready. If you need search and rescue, if its an effort with regards to National Security, our National Guard is there. All right, thank you, candidates. Well, now were going to give the candidates a chance to ask one of their opponents a question. The format for this will be a 30 second question, a 1 minute answer, followed by a 32nd period of rebuttal. Then the remaining candidate will have 30 seconds to weigh in on the topic as well. We drew names before we got started. Senator murkowski, youre first. Ask a question of one of your opponents. Thank you. Kelly, you have repeatedly called the bipartisan infrastructure bill the green new deal. Youve claimed that its given alaska only bread crumbs. Now, i realize that youve been gone from the state for about 28 years, but you have had, you told us that youve had a chance to travel around the state and to see firsthand the needs of alaskan communities, and really, the benefits of the bill. Weve seen about 2. 7 billion to alaska already, so how can you deny the benefits of that infrastructure bill to alaska . You have 1 minute to respond. The infrastructure bill is called by the wall street journal a bait and switch, and senator sullivan has actually confirmed this. He took to the floor of the senate in june and in august, saying that the 25 that was set aside for actual infrastructure has now been buried by bidens bureaucrats under regulations designed to kill all infrastructure. We got stuck with all of the inflation from the infrastructure bill that you wrote, but the appropriations that have been made available are hiding in the executive branch behind bidens bureaucrats, not actually accessible. So he then sponsored legislation to try and get rid of this regulatory framework. You cosponsored the legislation, essentially admitting that there are significant flaws in the infrastructure bill and our ability to get access to this infrastructure. Infrastructure is critical in alaska, and one of the chief things weve got to pick up in this next session is clearing away these regulatory hurdles of the Biden Administration through the nominees that you confirmed that have set up to block our access to infrastructure, because youre absolutely right. We cant wait any longer for these Critical Infrastructure developments. 30 seconds. Im glad to hear that you do support and you recognize that we need this infrastructure. It is something that the entire alaska delegation supported with this infrastructure bill. It is funding that is coming out to the communities literally as we speak. Today, tcc up in the interior received 30 million for reconnect. Mayor seward has gotten their funding for the lowell creek flood Diversion Program up in vessel. Theyve received their funding for broadband here in the port of anchorage. 68 million. Thank you. 30 seconds if you would like to weigh in. Obviously, the infrastructure bill is important. Infrastructure has been promised by the former two president s, and finally, this one got it through with a bipartisan approach. I think its obvious that we need it. We are a young state. We still need help with our infrastructure. We have lots of things in the state that need help, and i am supportive of it. And i thank senator murkowski for her role in helping it go through. All right. Now we are going to go over to rebecca p. , i think. Are we going to ask a question of one for opponents . Excuse me. Im moving on too quickly. You have 30 seconds. In march of 2021, the house passed the proact, which strengthened the protections of workers who choose to organize. In light of your fathers work with the ibew, how will you support or not support passage of the proact in the senate . The pro act in the senate . Thanks for the question. I support workers right to organize. I also support workers rights to not organize. And the pro act would force employers to make their workers unionized. And that would mean that our contractors and independent laborers across alaska, that we so desperately depend on, would be made into union workers. So i wouldnt support that. I think people need to have a choice on whether or not they join a union. My dad had a choice that worked out great for our family, and i support that choice for alaskans. 30 seconds for rebuttal, please. Well, i believe that the act does not force unions. I think it allows for unions and protects people who are seeking unions, gives them additional protections. And i worked as the president of the teachers association. I was part of a union for a long time. My husband was part of a union. We need the voices of workers, and we need the voices of workers to be protected, if they choose to organize. Senator murkowski, 30 seconds, if youd like to weigh in. This state has long been a state that recognizes the significant role that labor plays. And im proud to have earned the endorsement, the strong endorsement from so many of our unions and the trades. And i honor and i respect that the pro act, as it is written, is not without its level of controversy, but it is something where i think we recognize that there is good engagement going on about the good things that are in it and where there are challenges, we will work to address it. All right. Thank you. Now her turn. 30 seconds to ask the question of one of your opponents. Okay, so, for the incumbent, when you launched your campaign, you said, in this election, lower 48 outsiders are going to try to grab alaskas senate seat for their partisan agendas. Frankly, they couldnt care less about your future. A year later, lower 48 in washington, d. C. , dark money have spent more on your behalf than both of our campaigns have spent combined. Why are you now beholden to lower 48 and d. C. Dark money that doesnt care about our alaska future . Senator, 1 minute for your response. So, this couldnt be further from the truth, in terms of being beholden to anybody on the outside. I think alaskans who know me, who have watched me, who see me serve know full well that my prime driver every day on every issue is all about alaska. We recognize that there are outside groups that are weighing in. Theyre weighing in on my campaign. Theyre weighing in on your campaign. Theyre weighing in on a host of different campaigns. And in many ways, theyve kind of subsumed Everything Else thats out there. But as a candidate, we know we cant control that. In fact, just today, you stated that you cant control outside money or what others say about me, as were your words. And i think we know that, it might be frustrating, but thats the reality of what happens with these independent expenditure campaigns. There can be no coordination. But let there be no doubt, there is no Lisa Murkowski being beholden to any outside interests. You have 30 seconds for rebuttal, please. I think we all know how washington, d. C. Works, and i think thats what you were trying to tee up in your launch video, that when they come in and they help you keep your senate seat, you owe them favors. But when i talk to alaskans, we just dont want a senator whos bought and bullied by the d. C. Establishment. We want someone who represents our alaska independent voices. When i go to doors across alaska, we dont want a politician where their quality of life goes up. We want a public servant. We dont understand why our cost of living goes up while the d. C. Insiders get a better life. 30 seconds if youd like to weigh in. Well, nobody owns me. I had a lot of individuals give me money, and im very thankful for that. But i think money is a problem in the races that we have in this country, and i think we need to really start thinking about the impact of the money. If you dont have money, sometimes you cant get your voice out there. I dont know the answer to it, but i do think its very important for us to begin to assess how the money works and what it does or doesnt do. All right, thank you. Now were going to go over to rebecca p. On our social desk for some questions from social media. Rebecca . Rebecca cant wait to answer. [laughter] all right, so everyone gets 30 seconds. Ms. Tshibaka, how do you plan to protect lgbtq youth in the state federal levels . Will you stand with trans alaskans in the face of increasing hate . Thanks for the question. I believe we need to ensure the dignity and safety and rights of all alaskans, and we need to do that without jeopardizing and undermining the dignity and safety and rights of other alaskans. So, for example, i would protect the rights of women to compete against biological women in their sports. Thats a distinction between me and the cumbent. She voted to allow biological men to compete in womens sports. We could do Something Like set up separate leagues or separate sports teams for trans athletes that i think would be fair to them. But i think thats something we need to respect is the rights of everybody. Ms. Chesbro. My son in law, who is trans, just died. And one of the things that we had at his Memorial Service was the group of people who obviously had been the people who had been marginalized and bullied throughout their whole lives. You couldnt have asked for a better group of people. I would support the lbtq group forever. As a principal, all kids were important to me, and im horrified that anyone would try to harm children. Senator murkowski. I will absolutely support the rights of lgbtq, transgender. There should be no discrimination against anyone at any time. Thats kind of how i operate. And this debate that is out there right now, that is bullying and villainizing, villainizing young people at a time in their life when that is highly destructive, when people like kelly t. Preach conversion therapy, this is not helpful. And the second question we have, again, 30 seconds from facebook. Youre starting this time. We dont want more whining. So give us examples of what you would do to help fight inflation. I dont want to blame biden answer, because its happening all over the world. My turn. Yes. Okay. Its happening all over the world. Its happening all over the world because of the pandemic, because of supply chains. And really, its happening because were buying too much stuff. I think we have to be really careful that we dont look into our own purchasing. I mean, i was just listening to something on the radio that was saying, hey, really . One of the things thats driving our economy is how much stuff we buy, and were building storage bins all over the thing. Part of inflation is demand,. Is demand. Senator murkowski. Inflation, economics. Supply and demand. All right, so lets focus on the supply side in this country for a change. Weve got an administration that actually views resource production as a liability rather than an asset. So it is about increasing supply, but it is also about reducing spending and doing so in a way that is meaningful, that does not drive up inflation further. What was just passed, the inflation reduction act, which was anything but only served to increase inflation and served to increase inflation. Ms. Tshibaka. We need to reduce excessive government spending. Since bidens been elected, theyve added 5 trillion to our national debt, and the incumbent has been part of this. Shes voted for it. But thats not the only thing. We need to turn on energy and Gas Production in america so that we can become independent again, support growth and manufacturing by reducing regulations, and also reduce the cost of health care. We can do that by opening up competition and directly negotiating with pharmaceutical companies for lower prescriptions. This would all help us reduce inflation. All right, thank you, candidates. We need to take a short break now. When we come back, well continue with the debate for the state for the u. S. Senate. Stay with us. Alaska public media partnered with the state of Alaska Division of elections to bring you this explanation of ranked Choice Voting. Ranked Choice Voting is here. Heres what you need to know to make your vote count. In alaskas ranked Choice Voting general election. Only fill in one oval per candidate in each column. Dont rank a candidate more than once. Your vote only counts once. When a candidate is eliminated in a round, they are eliminated from all future rounds. You do not have to rank all of the candidates. Rank the candidates in order without skipping any rankings. If you skip a ranking, your next ranking moves up. But, if you skip two or more rankings, only the rankings before the skipped rankings will count. Dont give more than one candidate the same ranking. If you give more than one candidate the same ranking, those rankings and later rankings wont count. Once all the votes are in, tabulation begins. And heres how that works. The votes will be counted, starting with first choices. If a candidate gets 50 , plus one vote, they win. If not, round two begins with the lowest vote getter eliminated. If your first choice was not eliminated, your vote stays with them. If your first choice was eliminated, your second choice is now counted. If you only voted for one candidate, your vote also stays with them. Even if they are eliminated. Votes are tabulated again. This keeps happening in rounds, until two candidates are left, and the one with the most votes wins. Learn more about ranked Choice Voting at elections. Alaska. Gov. A message from the state of Alaska Division of elections. Find more election coverage, including our candidate comparison tool, and live coverage of the Election Results on november 8 at 9 00 p. M at alaskapublic. Org. Welcome back to debate for the state for u. S. Senate. Next, were going to go to a video question from anchorage youth vote. After the video, candidates will have 45 seconds to respond. My name is edison l. Moyer, and im a sophomore at West Anchorage high school. In light of the increasing frequency of school shootings, how do we keep americas children and youth safe from gun violence . And what is one specific thing we can do to keep our students safer . All right, ms. Chesbro, youll start us off. You have 45 seconds. Obviously, this is a huge issue, curbing gun violence. Its close to my heart and close to my home. And i was a principal when the columbine shooting happened, and it was one of the things that was the scariest things that i ever heard. When the state trooper who talked to us, that its really difficult to get rid of lone wolf kind of shooters. I think we could look at curbing gun violence in a different way. I think we have a huge problem with gun violence and suicides in this state and in this nation as well. Indeed, our young people, thats the first cause of death for young people, is gun violence. And among that, suicide. Lets keep our guns safe. Lets make sure we lock them up so that people cannot make a quick decision to move ahead. Senator murkowski, 1 minute, please. Gun violence is something that we all must seek to address. It just broke everyones heart to see the news just this week, yet another shooting in st. Louis in a school by a former student. So how do we keep our kids safe in School Without turning them into fortresses . I was part of a Bipartisan Group of lawmakers led by a very conservative republican john cornyn from texas to develop and pass into law the bipartisan Safer Communities act. It is not the end all and be all, but it does help to address more security for schools, more Mental Health for our kids, and it ensures that we are still able to provide for our Second Amendment protections while making sure that those who should not be possessing guns do not happen. My apologies. I said 1 minute. I meant 45 seconds for that response. Thank you, senator. Ms. Tshibaka, you have four minutes. Thank you so much for the question. As a mom of five, i share your concerns that we keep them safe in schools. I would like to see us fund more School Counselors and Mental Health counselors for our youth. I think that would really help. I dont support more restrictions on law abiding citizens who have a Second Amendment right to protect themselves, and that right shall not be infringed. I would not have voted for the extreme biden gun control that our incumbent worked on with senator mcconnell and the red flag laws that she supported. I think that criminals are still going to violate the law while law abiding citizens wont. But weve got to find ways to address this and get to the root causes, because as a mom, i share your concerns, and i think getting to the Mental Health root cause behind it and funding some of those solutions and School Safety and Security Resources would really help. All right, thank you, candidates. Our next question has been a lot of debate about the pandemic. How would you grade the nations response to the covid19 pandemic . Should anything be done differently during future threats to Public Health . Youll have 1 minute for your response. Senator murkowski, youre first. How would i grade us . In terms of our ability to quickly develop a vaccine . We get an a. I think it was exceptional how the agencies came together, the scientists came together to develop not only one vaccine, but multiple vaccines here in this country. And to be able to provide that. I give alaska a real strong grade for how we were able to ensure not only a level of understanding about what we were dealing with with covid, but about the importance of getting vaccinated. I do think that when it comes to the broader national response, in terms of how its communicated, we failed there. It was confusing, what happened with the mandates, the approach of, do we wear a mask or do we not wear a mask . We can and must do better. We need to be prepared for the next pandemic, because there will be one. All right, thank you. Ms. Tshibaka, you have 1 minute. Senators are supposed to be the defense line for the constitution, and i think many Constitutional Rights were violated. Getting ready for another pandemic, we probably should put some of these things in statute so that theyre clear. We need to protect peoples rights to have exceptions to mandates for shots, for faith based reasons, and for medical reasons. We need to make sure that our loved ones have the ability to come to the hospital and be with us when were sick or when were passing away. We need to honor the Constitutional Rights of our military servicemembers. They exercise their right to leave the military, or they were discharged from the military when they exercised those rights. I would want to sponsor a bill saying that they get their benefits, their honor, their retirement restored. I think that thats really important. I think we also need to honor the right to try medical treatment, and that needs to be preserved. Preserving those Constitutional Rights Going Forward is important. Speaking of Constitutional Rights, i have the highest ranking of the nra, im endorsed by gun owners of america. But getting ahead of a pandemic, weve got to balance Public Health safety with the rights of americans. Ms. Chesbro, 1 minute for your response, please. The pandemic affected many, many parts of our society. And i would just like, as an educator, i would like to address our ineffective way that we addressed it through schools. It was chaotic. People were expected teachers were expected to teach at a distance, who had never taught at distance before. They didnt have the right tools. Students werent ready. They didnt know how to organize their days so that they could do this. And we have seen now the results of the National Assessment of educational progress, that people have not done very well in school, and yet we continue to, well, i would have not liked to bend the teacher today were having school, and tomorrow were not. Its very difficult for a teacher to do that, and i dont think we did well with our kids in this environment. I would like to see if try to figure out ways that we could help them catch up from all the time they missed in the pandemic. All right. Thank you. Candidates, salmon runs have been in steep decline on the yukon and cuscacom rivers for the last several years. Some point to buy catch from trawlers as part of the problem. What, if anything, should be done to address this issue . You have 1 minute. Ms. Tshibaka, youll start us off. Well, unlike others, i havent accepted dark money from large lower 48 commercial trawlers. I think thats important in staying independent, as a voice to advocate on this issue. Weve got to move past just funding the research and move into funding the resolution of the problem. Significant resources need to go towards our coast guard to monitor and enforce our eez, from aircraft and cutters all the way into drones, and then the housing needed so that we can maintain coast guard presence here in alaska. We also need to look at our North Pacific Fisheries Management council. We have more coastline in alaska than the rest of lower 48 combined. There are three Fishery Management Councils for the atlantic ocean. We are sharing voices on our Fishery Management Council with washington and oregon. And it would be great if we had an alaska Fisheries Management council. So alaskans are making decisions about our alaska fisheries. I also support consistent electronic observation on all commercial vessels that everybody is treated equally in the same way so that we can get a hold of this by catch issue and we can return our salmon fisheries to where they need to be for the sake of subsistence first on all of us alaskans. Ms. Chesbro, you have 1 minute. Obviously, this is one more of those complex problems thats affected by many things. Now, im trying to learn a little bit about fisheries, and ive learned that the bycatch is certainly an issue, but its not an issue for all species. And if we look at bristol bay, they had a great season this year with sockeye. So the warming waters and the availability of food in bristol bay was helpful to them. However, we have also had to shut down both crab and some other fisheries up the rivers that people depend on for their livelihood. I think we need to find ways to make sure that the subsistence needs are met first. And i think thats a management issue. And i was reading that 97 of our fishering goes to commercial, 1 to subsistence, and less than 1 each to personal and sport fishing. We need to find that balance so that we can make sure people have the food that they need first. Thank you. Senator murkowski, you have 1 minute. Thank you. As pat has mentioned, outside of bristol bay this year, it was disastrous, what we saw on our river systems, what weve seen in other parts of the state, when it comes to our salmon. And so, it is important to look to all areas that may be at issue, and bycatch is certainly one of them. So, what do we do . It does come down to science. And i know science is slow, and i know science is expensive, but when youre going to manage, you have to have the science. So its pushing noah. Its pushing nims. Its making sure that within these appropriations accounts, we do have the funding for them. I think we need to have 100 observer coverage, and we can do it through electronic monitoring. Lets use our technologies. We need to have more dynamic, in season, and adaptive management. North pacific Management Council is a hard and a clumsy system right now. When were operating in times of less than abundance. It needs to be addressed. All right, thank you, candidates. Gasoline and heating fuel prices are more than double the National Average in many alaska communities. What can you do to take action in congress that will help stabilize the cost of energy here in alaska . Youll have 1 minute for your responses, and were going to go to ms. Tshibaka first. Well, in congress, i think you take a multifaceted approach. Youve got to get nominees in that support Energy Development and lower prices. The incumbent has voted for radical nominees that are actually driving this problem for us. I think we also need to support energy and Gas Development and the refineries here in alaska and Energy Production of Renewable Energy that will help drive down the prices here in alaska. The Energy Policy discussion isnt just a policy discussion. Its actually a personal discussion. My parents were homeless before i was born. And when you have these kind of costs of energy, making it all the way through alaska, talking to these families around the state, its very hard to move from a poverty or lower class into the working class and get a new start for yourself when you are absolutely overcome and burdened by this. It affects everything, food and transportation and freight, and trying to move up in the world. So we need to be really mindful of that when were advocating in d. C. That these are real alaskans and real alaskans lives that are really hurting and suffering. And thats really important. Having worked back there for 16 years overseeing federal agencies, theres a lot we can do to get the bureaucracy to work for us instead of against us. Ms. Cresbro. Ms. Chesbro. Obviously, the refinery issue is really important. My understanding was four of the refineries in california were recently shut down, all at the same time, which made our gas prices skyrocket. But we also need to make sure that our rural areas are helped with this. I sit next to a man on the Planning Commission who delivers fuel, and he delivers fuel by airplane to villages. And how much do you think it costs for diesel to come via airplane . Very, very expensive. So we need to do renewables. We need to find what is the area, whats the best thing in the area . And it could be the nuclear mini plants that theyre talking about. It could be wind, it could be solar, it could be thermal. We have a lot of things going on. We need to get this energy to people that needs to be affordable. Senator murkowski, 1 minute, please. Thank you. Energy is something that i have focused so much of my time in the senate on. It is not just a problem that were dealing with now. Yes, it is accentuated. Its even more accentuated because of what is happening in ukraine with russia. But our reality is, unless we are producing more as a country, we will be beholden to the prices that are set by opec. We will be beholden to those who really dont like us. So everything that we can do to produce more for ourselves and this is not just in the oil and gas space, this is about Americas Energy opportunities. Everything from wind and solar and biomass and geothermal and tidal. Its bringing it all together. Right now, were dealing with an administration, though, that has a different view of resource production. Thats been a mistake. Its putting us at a disadvantage. And so, every day, pushing back against them is what we have to do. All right, thank you, candidates. All right, were going to let the candidates ask again another question of one of their opponents. Second round of this, again, we drew names before we started the debate tonight to pick the order, and were going to allow ms. Chesbro to ask a question of one of your opponents. You have 30 seconds to ask your question. Thank you. Senator murkowski, during your tenure, you have confirmed four of the six justices who overturned roe v. Wade. You noted that this decision rocked your confidence in the court and suggested those nominees had given you the wrong impression about their intention. In light of this, how will you change your approach to confirming justices . That is an excellent question, because right now i think we have a confirmation process that is broken. We are not evaluating nominees based on their competence, their qualifications, their temperament, their independence. We are evaluating them based on what president appointed them. We are looking at them and saying, if you are a republican and a republican nominates, boom. Its a rubber stamp. And if youre a democrat, its put the roadblock up. I wasnt asked to go to the United States senate. I wasnt asked to participate in this advice and consent process, which i take very, very seriously. To just be that automatic rubber stamp, or to be that automatic roadblock, depending on what year it is and who the president was, we have got to get back to actually evaluating the criteria, the qualifications of these nominees. Ms. Chesbro, you have 30 seconds for rebuttal. I agree. The Supreme Court of the land should be the most fair, the most dependable court in the land. And i worry that we have now found a Supreme Court that is really unbalanced, and we could and it scares me for what in the future. These people are young people. They have lifetime appointments, and now we have them for life. And whats going to happen to us . I dont know, but its scary. Ms. Tshibaka, you have 30 seconds to weigh in. I will support constitutionalist nominees for the Supreme Court, regardless of which president appoints them. I think that the process is fine. Its not about politics. Its about how you interpret the constitution. And people who interpret the constitution with a constitutional perspective are going to be the people who uphold the rights of alaskans. Its a Pretty Simple test for me. All right, now its senator murkowskis turn to ask a question of one of your opponents. So, pat, this is a question to you, and i thank you for joining us at the debate there in kodiak comfish, certainly a very important part of the alaska discussion. Weve had some discussion about it today, but i think its important. Fishing isnt just a part of life in alaska. Its a way of life. We have acknowledged that the fisheries are struggling. The bering sea snow crab fishery is not going to be open for this coming season. How should alaska best address our changing climate and its impact on our fisheries . Obviously, the Climate Change issue is a huge issue, and its not a simple solution. And unfortunately, fisheries have become the victim of that. As we said earlier, more research, figuring out ways that we can help, all of those things are vital to figuring this out. When we were at the southeast conference, one of the things they talked about was one of their biggest concerns, Climate Change. Because my understanding, and my understanding is limited, different fish have different needs, they eat different things, they swim in different waters, they have different predators, and we need to make sure that we provide for that. And part of that is the warming waters moving north. What are we going to do about that . How are we going to help our fisheries . So, i dont really have any answers, except we have to find them. All right, senator murkowski, you have 30 seconds. It probably was an unfair question to ask you to solve in 1 minute, Climate Change, but i think the important place to start is that Climate Change is real. Climate change is real. We acknowledge it. We have to address these problems. And i think, and as we do, they acknowledge that it is not just impacting our fisheries, its impacting our coastline, it is impacting our housing, its impacting our vulnerability as a country, from a National Security perspective, as were seeing an arctic change. Ms. Tshibaka, would you like 30 seconds . I dont prefer the Biden Administrations taking of crushing our economy and hurting our families and creating workers that are suffering. Again, i think that this is an all of the above solution where we can invest in Renewable Energy and in Energy Innovation and then be able to really invest in our conservation programs, like our impact mitigation fund. I think we actually do responsible Resource Development well in alaska, and we could really lead in this area for a given lead in this area if given the chance. You now have 30 seconds to ask a question of one of your opponents. So this is for the incumbent. Weve noticed that there are many times youll say one thing here to us in alaska, but then youll do the opposite in d. C. Like you ran paid ads saying that biden was going to come grab our guns. While you were working with biden and mcconnell on the gun control legislation and red flag laws that you passed. You also said to us in your last campaign youd repeal obamacare. You were the deciding vote to obamacare. To keep obamacare. Were wondering why. Is it because of what you said to the reporter after the Obamacare Vote that we alaskans wont remember . Kelly, i think one thing that you should remember is certainly what i do every single day, which is put alaska first. So whether it is when were talking about matters related to Second Amendment or matters related to healthcare, it all comes down to what is going to most benefit alaskans. And when it comes to this bipartisan Safer Communities act, something that i did work on, something that i think is a good step forward in addressing Mental Health School Safety, but also making sure that we are protecting our Second Amendment rights. It does not create red flag laws. In fact, what it does is it says if there is a state that does have red flag laws, you are required to have enhanced due process added to this as a requirement of this legislation, we make sure that no ones Second Amendment rights are impacted for lawful possession of a firearm. Its as plain as that. Ms. Chesbro ms. Tshibaka, you have 30 seconds for rebuttal. Having talked to thousands of alaskans and knocked on their doors across the state, we feel that were put first when people tell the truth and talk straight. So were not looking for politicians, were looking for public servants. But you did something similar just now in our forum where you said that weve got to produce more energy and weve got to push back on this Biden Administration and their agenda. But you were the tiebreaking vote to advance the confirmation of deb holland, who is the person leading the energy annihilating agenda for biden, and that came out in the confirmation process. And so, those are the things were talking about. Ms. Chesbro, you have 30 seconds to weigh in if you choose. I think we all need to be as honest as we can, no matter when we speak to people. And sometimes we make mistakes. Sometimes we miscast things. Sometimes things are taken out of context. I think we need to look at what people do. I think we need to look at the overall person and how that person behaves. And that stands for politicians as well as teachers, as well as news broadcasters. So, i value the truth. I value people being honest, and i will continue to do that. Thank you, candidates. Now its time for a lightning round. Each candidate will have 15 seconds to answer yes or no to these questions and provide a brief explanation, if they would like. Well continue our rotation from before the candidate questions. And our first question if china uses military force against taiwan, should the United States intervene . How so . Or why not . Senator murkowski. Youre first. We cannot leave taiwan. We cannot leave taiwan hanging. We cannot leave taiwan hanging, just as we cannot leave ukraine hanging. There is too much in the balance. Ms. Tshibaka. Yes, we absolutely should get involved. China has shown that it has its interests that are contrary to our own. Its one of our largest foreign adversaries, and we are necessary to holding the balance of global stability and exercising our strength to protect countries like taiwan. Ms. Chesbro. Yes. We should help taiwan. I like the way were helping ukraine, as were not sending our own people there, but were sending stuff to help them defend themselves. I think people defending themselves are the strongest ways to do it. All right. The federal ban on assault style weapons expired in 2004. Do you support or oppose a ban on the sale of those firearms, and why . Ms. Tshibaka. I do not support banning those weapons. I think that the ban should say expired. I support the Second Amendment, again, proud to have the highest rating from the nra and endorsement of gun owners of america. When we make these guns illegal, criminals still get them, and lawabiding citizens are deprived of their Constitutional Rights. Ms. Chesbro. I think we should ban the sale of them. I think it worked before. I think theres no purpose of them except for killing people and having a Family Member who has personally been murdered, im against murder. Senator murkowski . I do not support a ban on an assault weapon. I think we recognize that with todays technologies, if you were to ban one model, one platform, those who would do destruction would find another way to attempt it. All right. Alaskans will be voting on whether to hold a constitutional convention. Do you support or oppose that and why . Ms. Chesbro, your first youre first. I oppose the constitutional convention. We have a good constitution. It was thought up by very smart people, and they looked at constitutions and saw what worked around the country and decided what was going to work for us. I think we have an amendment process. We should use it, if we need to amend our constitution. Senator murkowski . I oppose moving to a constitutional convention. I agree with pat on this one. We have demonstrated that weve got a process that works. We can amend the constitution, our state constitution. Weve done it 28 times, and that process is available to us. Ms. Tshibaka. I support it. Governments of the people, by the people, for the people. Im not afraid of the people of alaska. I think its important to remember, when we formed our constitution, we didnt include very many alaska native voices at all. They were excluded from the process. I think that they should be included in the formation of our state constitution. All right. Thank you, candidates. Its time now for closing statements from our candidates tonight. To determine the order, we pulled the candidates names before we got started tonight. Ms. Chesbro, you will go first this evening. 1 minute, please. Thank you. I come to you not as a bureaucrat or a legislator, but as an educator, and my focus throughout this campaign and throughout my life actually has been on our young people. I have significant concerns with the messages were giving our young people, the rights were taking away from our young people, and the earth we may be giving to our young people. I am running for office to get the word out about my values and the values of many people, the many people that i really am grateful to for supporting me throughout this. And i appreciate the time that youre spending tonight and the many forums weve had the opportunity to attend. So thank you very much, and support me, if you support my values. Thank you. Ms. Tshibaka, you have 1 minute for your closing statement. The incumbent will minimize alaskas concerns, saying its easy to criticize her record, but her record has hurt alaskans. Were paying for inflation from the infrastructure bill, as senator sullivan says, well hardly see any of the money made accessible to us from that infrastructure. Why dont we have the millions of acres of land that are still owed to us from the federal government yet . Why dont our Rural Communities have the 5 million, the 50 million the incumbent promised us from the department of justice . Why havent we gotten rid of the Blood Quantum requirement for alaskan natives . Why are we still paying the highest prices in the nation for energy, when we have the chairmanship of the Energy Committee for six years . We lost that chairmanship two years ago, and the incumbent isnt in line to get the chairmanship of any major committee. If she is reelected, the maximum value of our seniority has expired. The incumbent cannot accomplish in the next six years what she hasnt been able to accomplish in the last 21 years. So if we want to see a change, we have to make a change. Rank me number one, because its time for a change. Thank you, alaska. Senator murkowski, you have 1 minute for your closing. Thank you. This senate race is really about who can best deliver for alaska, and the record is out there in terms of what i have done for alaska every single day, every single day. And kelly may have some insight about certain federal agencies that shes been involved with, but frankly, shes been gone from this state for 28 years, and shes out of touch with alaskans and what alaskans expect and want. Alaskans want results. They dont want partisan political rhetoric. Ive used my seniority and my ability to work with others to make things happen, to advance alaskas priorities. Alaskas priorities always. And this is everything from building out our economy, strengthening our military, supporting our veterans, making sure that we are investing in infrastructure, like ports and broadband and ferries and roads, making our communities safer and healthier and more sustainable. I have been blessed to serve alaskans. I thank you for that. But i respectfully ask for your vote, so that we can continue our work together. Thank you. Thank you so much, candidates, for your answers tonight and for your presence. That concludes our u. S. Senate debate for the state for 2022. I want to again thank the candidates for joining us. And thank you, as well, to rebecca p. For monitoring social media for us tonight. We want to make sure that you check out our candidate comparison tool to see all the answers from candidates across the state. Dont forget election day, november 8. We encourage every alaskan to get out and vote and make sure that your voice is heard. If you missed the u. S. House debate or the debate for alaskas next governor, you can find links to them on our website, alaska public dot org. For alaskas news source and alaska public rated this race solidly democratic. Good evening. Welcome to colorado mesa uner